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I work my jaw, then nod.

I swear the shadows in the room deepen, and I remember all over again who’s next to me, hogging all the room on the mattress. For several seconds we’re both quiet as the darkness lays claim to my dorm room.

My pulse is pounding, partly from the aftertaste of my dream, and partly from Des showing up out of nowhere like some kind of dark savior. And now he’s a hairsbreadth away from … something. Anger, madness, retribution—I still can barely read the man.

“Rest easy, cherub,” he says. Then, softer, “I won’t let anyone else hurt you.” The violence that laces his voice … it’s another reminder of how fierce he can be and how well earned his reputation is.

“You’re … staying?” I say, brushing some sweaty strands of hair from my face.

He was pretty adamant about not sleeping over only a couple of weeks ago.

He’s quiet for so long that I assume he’s not going to answer me.

“Yeah,” he eventually says, “I am.”

Present

“So what’s ournext move?” I ask, my eyes drifting over the framed photos in the Bargainer’s living room.

Des sits down next to me on the couch and pinches his lip. “Tomorrow, I’d like to show you the sleeping warriors.”

Unwillingly, a shiver courses through me. Just because I agreed to this doesn’t mean I’m thrilled to return to Des’s kingdom. But, sitting around and letting someone fuck with me while I sleep isn’t a good option either, so …

“Do you think me seeing the women will help us figure out what’s going on?” I ask.

He stares at my lips. “No,” he says plainly, “but I’ll show you them nonetheless.”

I look around us, at his living room. “And after that?”

The corner of his mouth curves up. “I’ll give you my case notes to read over, and we’ll go from there. Other than that, you’ll pay off your debt and make yourself at home.”

Caught in the spider’s web. Isn’t that what I felt last time Des brought me here? That every single thing that happened forwarded some interest of his, and I was hopeless to know what it was.

That strange fae beauty of his stares back at me remorselessly. He belongs to a race of beings that kills savagely,brutally. Forcing me to live under his roof and play his games day in and day out isn’t particularly cruel or out of character.

“Do I literally have to sleep inside your home every single night?”

“Don’t worry about that, cherub.”

I laugh humorlessly. “That’s not an answer, Des. What happens when I leave your house to stay the night with a friend? Am I going to spontaneously die?”

“Afriend?” he asks derisively. “Is that what you call your men? Friends?”

Your men?

The only reason I haven’t launched myself across the couch and throttled Des is because, like earlier today, I detect jealousy in his voice, and that throws me off.

I narrow my eyes at him. “You’re presuming a fucking lot right now,” I say. “I was talking about Temper, mycompletely platonicfemale friend, you ass.” She and I had sleepovers from time to time. So sue us for not wanting to grow up.

A corner of his mouth curls up. “You won’t spontaneously die. My magic understands nuances.”

Judging by how weirdly upset he got just now, I bet those nuances don’t countmy men.

My heart begins to pound as the reality of my situation sets in.

Living with the Bargainer.

How is this going to work, practically speaking? What if paying off my debt does take years? What if I have to watch Des date other women? What if I date other men?